I'm a victim of identity theft, how can I improve my credit?

When I turned 18 my mother began taking out credit cards and opening accounts in my name. I hadn't lived with her since I was 16 so I wasn't aware of this until it was too late. I've filed police reports, disputed everything, I went to see a lawyer and was told it would cost me five thousand dollars to pursue a case. Despite everything, the credit agencies don't care about my police report, they just want their money, and most are denying my fraud claims because my mother is the one who stole my identity, and they can't really fathom this. I'm 22, my boyfriend and I are interested in buying a house in the future, and I'd like to actually buy the house with him. If anyone has any financial advice on how to improve my credit, whether it be getting a credit card or whatever, it'd be much appreciated. Thanks!I'm a victim of identity theft, how can I improve my credit?
The lawyer will help you with cleaning up this fraud... it will cost you a lot more than five grand to do this on your own. Especially since your mother was the one to screw up your credit.I'm a victim of identity theft, how can I improve my credit?
You cannot improve your score till you clear up all the defaulted, fraudulent items on your credit report. You other option is to wait out the 7 year reporting period and wait for the derogatory items to age off.





If you don't have any open, active lines of credit, get a credit card, even if you have to get a secured card. Use the card and pay in full every month. You need at least 24 months of consistent, on time payment history to improve your score. But mortgage lenders will still require all derogatory items be resolved before approving a loan.





One more bit of advice, do not buy that house jointly unless you are legally married. It is a very bad idea. There are courts to divide marital assets, not so live togethers. If things go bad between the two of you, the house will become a nightmare.
Well this is much complicated case because your own mother do fraud.Only lawyer can give you perfect solution.You must go to him %26amp; also remember you have to pay for it.
They can fathom this. It is extremely common. They should know that.





Some things you can do to improve your credit score include:


1. Continue trying to dispute the items.


2. Look for a less expensive lawyer.


3. If you cannot afford any lawyer, consider filing a lawsuit in small claims court without a lawyer.


4. Being very careful not to pay the debts (no matter how much the companies tell you to pay), wait seven years. After seven to 7.5 years of absolutely no activity -- no new charges, no payments, nothing, an account is supposed to be removed automatically.
Contrary to the other answers on here, there is hope and you have taken the first steps, in that you have filed a police report and started the dispute process. The problem is, this stuff is like football: there are rules and procedures that must be followed or you're not gonna be able to play (or you'll get crushed when ya do!). While the issue of the thief being your mother is a complication, I have seen a number of successfully resolved cases wherein an immediate family member is involved. In fact, a surprisingly large # of cases have that in common, so don't freak out and listen to the naysayers on here: they're just dead wrong.





As far as legal representation goes, I don't recommend it. Lawyers who don't specialize in Identity Law often do more harm than good and should only be used in the most extreme cases.





I have been involved in the Identity industry for years and there are a number of paths to a speedy resolution and other paths after that to get your credit up where you need it to be to buy a home.





It looks like it is frowned upon to make recommendations or ';sell'; services on the board, so please email or IM me and I would be more than happy to help. First, we'll address how to get all this fraud knocked out (and no, I'm not trying to ';sell'; you my services, I don't take cases), then I'll share with you a little known methodology to SPECIFICALLY get your credit ready to buy a home.





Hang in there, Danielle, there's light at the end of the tunnel (and, no, it's not a train, lol)





Best: LRK